Aussie swimming team suffer NIGHTMARE start to Olympic Games as Emma McKeon and Shayna Jack are crammed onto buses into Paris in 'chaotic' scenes

It was a far from ideal start to Australia's swimming team's Olympic journey as a number of star athletes were stuck on a crammed bus. 

Shayna Jack shared a photo online showing a number of her teammates sitting on the floor of a bus during their 45-minute journey to training.

The likes of Emma McKeon and Zac Stubblety-Cook could be seen masked up in the stuffy conditions. 

'Bus rides to the pool are jam packed … 45 mins to comp pool,' Jack wrote.

'No aircon or windows down.

'But has also gotten lost. Crazy start to the chaos.'

The Aussies are being extra vigilant to avoid illness during the two-week bonanza, with five water polo stars already testing positive for Covid. 

Australian chef de mission Anna Meares confirmed the spread to nearly half of the 13-woman squad on Wednesday, a day after two players had initially tested positive to the virus.

The medal chances begin their campaign in Paris on Saturday against China, Meares saying the five athletes would still be allowed to train later on Wednesday if well enough.

'It is confined to the water polo team,' she said, adding all of the women's squad had been tested.

'There is training again this afternoon and if those five athletes are feeling well enough to train they will.'

She said they would wear masks, isolate and not visit high-volume areas of the village.

The Australian team has its own medical testing equipment for illnesses such as COVID-19 and the 'flu.

'We treat COVID no differently to any other respiratory illness but want to ensure we have our protocols working as well,' she said.

She said such concerns were 'part and parcel of every Olympic Games'.

The French government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have said there was only a moderate increase in COVID cases in the country.

'There is no big risk of a cluster,' Health Minister Frederic Valletoux told broadcaster franceinfo.

'Of course COVID is here. We've seen a small peak (in cases), but we are far from what we saw in 2020, 2021, 2022.'